Marlborough towing service owner sues town for $5M, alleging rotation rule not followed

MARLBOROUGH >> The owner of a Marlborough towing service and used-car dealership has sued the town for $5 million in punitive damages, alleging it has violated an agreement to use towing providers on a prescribed rotating basis.

In a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, Joseph DiBlanca alleged Marlborough officials, including Police Chief Gerald Cocozza, created a “statutorily prohibited conflict of interest” by obtaining ownership interests in Autos by Joseph’s primary competitors: Absolutely Automotive, Absolutely Auto Body and Town Line Auto Center, all owned by Alexander LaMarca.

In addition to $5 million in punitive damages, DiBlanca is asking the court to award “compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial.”

According to the complaint, Autos by Joseph has been participating in the town’s “statutory rotation for vehicle removal” for about eight years.

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“The statutory rotation is intended to ensure that all licensed tow company operators within the town receive an equal number of calls which are distributed in a prescribed fashion. ... The town police department, by statute, monitors the roster and is solely responsible for contacting whichever company is next in line for a vehicle removal,” the suit states.

Named in the complaint are Cocozza, the town of Marlborough, the town police department, the town building department, town police Sgt. Justin Pascale, town police Officer Frederick Eberhard, town Building Inspector Thomas Corcoran and LaMarca’s three businesses.

The complaint states Pascale began working for Absolutely Automotive in January 2008 and “acquired an ownership interest” in Town Line Auto Center on or about May 1, in violation of town code, which bars town employees from “obtaining interests and working for” any towing business. The suit states that Cocozza began working for Absolutely Automotive in January 2000.

LaMarca on Thursday called the complaint “fraudulent” and said the truth “will come out in the wash.” He declined to identify his lawyer, saying, “No one will make any comment on my behalf.”

The other defendants and Marlborough Supervisor Stephen Osborn did not return a reporter’s calls on Thursday.

“The corruption has to come to an end. It’s time for a cleansing,” DiBlanca said. “(The suit is) going to be another black eye for the town of Marlborough.”

Asked about the $5 million claim for punitive damages, DiBlanca said, “I’m looking for the corruption to come to an end, it’s been going on for a long time.”

DiBlanca, who lives in nearby Highland, said he’s been operating his business in Marlborough since 2005 and in Ulster County since 2002. He said he hired New York City lawyer David Lackowitz to handle the case because “corruption in Marlborough seems to run deep.”

Lackowitz did not return calls Thursday.

The suit claims that after DiBlanca complained about being skipped in the towing rotation, beginning “in or around” August, “the town and police defendants retaliated against (Autos by Joseph) by launching an ongoing, persistent, dangerous and deliberate campaign to use their official positions, with the cooperation of the town building inspector, defendant Thomas Corcoran, to (among other things) attempt to silence Mr. DiBlanca, drive Mr. DiBlanca out of business and harass him and his employees, including his son.”

The suit claims Eberhard said, “Things are going to change around here. I can call whoever I want, as often as I want.” When DiBlanca objected, the suit claims, Eberhard said, “The tow law means nothing to me” and threatened to put DiBlanca out of business.

Since DiBlanca complained about the alleged violations, the suit states, the owners of Absolutely Automotive and Town Line Auto Center “have attempted to disrupt Mr. DiBlanca’s business by regularly driving by Autos by Joseph while shouting curse words out of their windows and making obscene gestures at Mr. DiBlanca, his son and their employees.”

About the Author

Diane Pineiro-Zucker has been a reporter at the Daily Freeman since April 2013.
Pineiro-Zucker worked as a reporter in the Freeman’s Rhinebeck bureau in the early 1980s, left to become executive editor at Taconic Newspapers in Dutchess County, and returned to the Freeman in 2010 as a copy editor. Reach the author at dpzucker@freemanonline.com
or follow Diane on Twitter: @DianeAtFreeman.